


Under The Moon

by slimothy



Category: Re-Animator (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Blow Jobs, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mentions of blood and gore, Nightmares, Sexual Tension, Trauma, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:41:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27907651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slimothy/pseuds/slimothy
Summary: Being stuck in an asylum won't be a good time for Herbert West. Maybe the werewolf next door will help.AU where Herbert meets Dan while placed in an asylum after Gruber's death.Based on the play Wolfboy.
Relationships: Daniel Cain/Herbert West
Kudos: 24





	Under The Moon

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was inspired by the play Wolfboy and a few lines of dialogue have been taken from the original script. 
> 
> This is the first fic I've posted and I hope you like it! I'm not a big fan of my own work so I hope it's not as bad as I think it is lmao 
> 
> Theme: Heard Somebody Cry - Oingo Boingo  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rF3QWqQ3tbc

Rain pounded on the window and lightning filled Herbert West’s room with flashes of bright light. He was illuminated, hunched over his journal and desperately filling in the pages with what he could remember of Gruber’s reaction to his re-agent. He wasn’t crazy, but he supposed if you looked in at him right now, you would see a man of frenzied passion writing chicken scratch in a mental asylum, and you would certainly think that he was insane. 

Dr. Gruber’s reaction was violent, and Herbert had to force his hand to write down the specifics of it. The doctor was a father figure, and seeing the horrific results was painful even for someone as closed off as West. 

Testing his new life-giving serum on his recently deceased mentor probably wasn’t the best idea, but he was so sure that his re-agent would work properly and Gruber was already dead to begin with. Herbert had found him in the morning on the floor and unresponsive. No matter how he reacted, it couldn't get worse. On paper anyway. Herbert could have gone through his life just fine without hearing the wretched screams that ripped from Gruber's revived vocal cords.

And now he was without a mentor and had been put in a psych ward. 

He was almost down the first page when he heard a high pitched whine. 

He chalked it up to the sounds of the storm, but when the noise came again a few seconds later, Herbert stopped and really listened. It was hard to hear with the rain and occasional booms of thunder, and for about a minute there was nothing, but then he heard that same high pitched whine for the third time. 

Herbert stood up and tried to figure out where it was coming from. The window was closed, unable to be opened, and he was on the fifth floor, so outside was unlikely. He listened for it again, and when it came, Herbert turned his head to the left side of his room where a door was, where the noise was coming from. He paced towards it slowly, wondering where it led to. The door on the opposite wall was to the hallway, so what was on the other end of this one? And what could possibly be making that noise? 

The thunder struck particularly loud, and Herbert heard that same whine again, but this time it sounded louder and drew on a bit more. The whining continued as he put his ear up to the door. He listened as whoever, or whatever, on the other end whimpered pitifully. Herbert jiggled at the door handle, but it unsurprisingly didn't open.

He pulled himself away and yawned. Herbert didn’t consider himself flawed, but needing sleep was definitely an inconvenience. He put himself under his covers and fell asleep to the rain tapping on the windows and the faint whining on the other side of the wall. He would figure it out later.

\-----

_Herbert wandered down the halls of his school in Switzerland, searching for Gruber’s office. He came across a door and knew it was his despite the nameplate being empty. Something started soaking into his shoes when he grabbed the handle. He looked down. The floor was red._

Herbert’s eyes shot open. 

Nightmares have plagued him nearly every night since he was a little kid. It didn't bother him so much anymore, but sometimes they created a vexing paranoia that would make it difficult to fall back asleep. Luckily tonight wasn’t one of those times. Perhaps his waking life becoming a blood-soaked horror made his resting brain uncreative. 

He laid his head back down on the pillow and closed his eyes. Remnants of the nightmare stayed in his head, but he attempted to get rid of it by mentally reciting parts of the body. It was a trick he taught himself when the nightmares started, too distant from his parents to go into their bed for the rest of the night. It started with simplicity. 

_Fingers. Toes. Arms. Legs._

Then he moved on to muscles and systems. 

_Circulatory. Biceps. Digestive._

He wondered if he could request a book to read. 

_Ligament. Tendons._

He was starting to doze off again when he heard a creak of a door opening. He opened his eyes just a tinge. His bed was against the wall across from the hallway door and he could see it clearly from where he laid. 

It was shut. 

He felt panic overtake him and told himself he was hearing things, but when he turned his head slightly to look at the other door, he saw a head peeking in. 

Herbert told himself it was sleep paralysis, shoving away the instant rebuttal in his head that said _but I can move_. He stayed still, his instinct's choice when given flight, fight, or freeze. 

_Sleep paralysis. Narcolepsy. Insomnia._

The shadow stepped forward, but when Herbert cowardly pushed himself further under the blanket, whoever or whatever it was backed away. The door closed with a soft click. 

Herbert let out a breath of short-lasting relief. 

He must have been up for another hour, his worsened paranoia invading his mental space. The idea of that shadow coming into his room while he was actually asleep made him nervous. 

_Skull. Spine. Sternum._

Did they want something? 

_Monocytes. Erythrocytes._

Oh, they must have been the thing that made the whining noise. 

_Frontal. Temporal._

He eventually found his way back to sleep.

\-----

_He was in Gruber’s office, laying in the spot he slept in when he had worked too long and he didn’t feel like going home. He woke up there most mornings. He heard a distant scream._

Herbert awoke to the sound of yelling on the other side of the wall. The orange of sunrise bathed his room. 

“Daniel, stop!” a woman's voice shouted. Herbert remembered the incident from last night, albeit hazily, and became intrigued. He believed it all could have been his eyes playing tricks, or another dream, but he really did share a wall with another patient. At least he wasn’t hallucinating. 

There was a snarl. “What’s wrong, Daniel?” the same nurse asked. A loud growl and a scream. “Stay back or I’ll call an orderly!” 

There was a loud crash and Herbert jumped. Was this other patient violent? Was he in danger by being right next to him? 

A door slammed and then there was silence. Herbert sat on the edge of his bed, chewing at his lip while he thought. There was obviously another patient on the other side of the wall, Daniel must be his name, and he had access to Herbert’s room. Questions flew through his head. Could he not speak? Why did he sound so animalistic? Why had he come into Herbert’s room? 

A knock on his door pulled Herbert out of his thoughts, and no more than a second later did his nurse swing it open. She was clearly ruffled, no doubt from the encounter in the room right over. 

“How are we today?” she asked with a wide, fake smile stretched across her face. 

“Falsely accused,” Herbert referred to the blame put on him for Gruber’s death, his voice tight. He watched as his nurse walked over to his journal, ignoring his response, and she sighed as she read the first page. Herbert gripped the edge of his bed, his knuckles going white. Nobody here could possibly understand his work, not even one simple page of it. 

“Now Herbert, this was supposed to be for your feelings.”

“I consider my research to be more important than the mere feelings I have during the day.” 

“Well, you can discuss that with Dr. McMichaels,” she picked up the journal and held it as she beckoned Herbert to follow her. He walked with her through the hallway. The fluorescent lights gave a blue tinge to the building, as opposed to the dull white of his room. He wanted to cover his ears from the buzzing that filled the hall, it made him feel like there were bugs burrowing in his head, but he kept his hands at his sides. 

Thankfully his nurse didn't talk much on the way. When they reached the office, she opened the door with a gesture for him to go inside. 

The office of Dr. McMichaels was a soft lemon yellow, and the buzzing was even louder than in the hallway despite it emitting from only the one lightbulb on the ceiling. The doctor stayed sitting at her desk as Herbert took his seat across from her. His nurse handed her his journal, and they had a whispered discussion about it that Herbert couldn’t hear, making him feel like a little kid who was trying to understand what his parents were saying. The doctor excused his nurse from the room and told her to wait outside. She quickly read what he wrote, and when she was done she tapped her finger on the page. “This is fascinating, Mr. West," she said. Herbert was surprised. Maybe this place wouldn't be so bad after all, maybe she would understand. "But why don’t we try using the journal for its proper purpose?" He felt his hope crumple back into nonexistence. 

“I see no use in writing down my emotions.” 

“It will help me understand you better,” Dr. McMichaels said. “It might even help you understand yourself better.” 

“I understand myself fine, and you have no need to understand me as I’m perfectly sane.” 

Dr. McMichaels sighed. “Let’s move on.”

Herbert didn’t know if he could concentrate on their conversation for the rest of the time he was supposed to be here. The buzzing was becoming consuming, and there was a weird smell that he couldn’t place. He stared at his open journal, and the doctor’s voice became background noise as his thoughts became preoccupied, focused only on the re-agent. Would it be too late to bring Dr. Gruber back? How long were they going to keep him here? He needed to tweak his serum. Maybe if he-

“Herbert?” he was brought out of his thoughts and looked up at Dr. McMichaels. “Mr. West, I asked you a question.” 

“What was it?” 

“Who was Dr. Gruber to you?” 

Herbert scoffed, a refusal to answer, which earned him another sigh from the doctor. “Fine, don’t cooperate. Just try and write something about your feelings tonight, okay, Mr. West? I’ll be reading it tomorrow.” 

On the way back to his room, Herbert debated asking his nurse about the patient in the room next to his but ultimately decided against it. It would be best not to cast attention to the situation.

He was glad to be back in his room when they got there, a feeling he didn’t think was possible in this place, but he was happy to be out of the ghoulish environment that was the rest of the building. At least his room was his, for his time there, and the lighting situation wasn’t as poor as the hallways. Plus that god awful buzzing wasn't present. 

He placed his journal on the desk, ignoring his nurse as gave her goodbye, and sat in his bed. He wished that incompetent therapist would have realized that she had been holding the key to life and death in her hands. He also felt a surge of anger at her for daring to ask about Dr. Gruber and his worth to Herbert. She had no idea about anything, if she did she would know that Herbert would have never even thought about killing Dr. Gruber, not in a million years. Why didn’t people understand that? 

He was getting all worked up when he heard noises coming from the other side of the wall again. A greeting from the voice of his nurse and growling in response. Herbert was going to ignore it, but the patient had started barking loudly and the nurse’s voice was too muffled to hear from his bed. His curiosity got the best of him, and he leaped out of his bed to the door and put his ear up against it. 

There was a lot of scuffling like people were fighting, and the patient was whining and growling. There was a loud bang on the wall like someone was pushed into it, and then Daniel started barking wildly. 

“You’ll need to eat soon, and you’ve been on some of your worst behavior lately. This is best for everybody,” the nurse spoke over the high pitched wails of the patient. The shuffle of feet, a good-bye from the nurse, and the door being shut. All that was left was the sounds of struggle from Daniel. 

Herbert pulled his head away from the door. They must have restricted him. It would make sense, with him attacking the nurse earlier that day. Did he do that often? Herbert paced back and forth, wondering if there was some way he could get into the other room. If Daniel was unable to move then Herbert could study him, at least physically. Maybe he could even ask him some questions. He was never particularly interested in psychology, but anything was better than nothing. 

Herbert sat at the desk and began writing in his journal some questions he wanted to ask, fully intending to rip out the pages later. He also wrote down ideas on how he could tweak his re-agent and some theories on how the freshness of a corpse could affect results.

A few hours had passed and the sun had started to set when there was a knock on his door and his nurse entered with his dinner. “Pasta tonight,” she said cheerfully. “Yum.”

Herbert quickly closed his journal and grabbed his tray. He sat at his desk to eat as she left, staring out his window, watching the sky darken, and then perked his head up when he heard the door in the other room open. He put down his fork and went back to holding his ear against the door to hear. 

“It’s pasta tonight,” the nurse said. “Give it a chance, you’ll love it.” 

There was a stretch of silence until Herbert heard someone, certainly Daniel, spit. Herbert couldn’t blame him if he was refusing to eat. He was never a picky eater, but cold spaghetti was nobody’s favorite. 

“Fucking shit!” the nurse yelled in response. It was the first time she had broken her happy attitude, and Herbert would be lying if he said he wasn’t upset that he didn’t cause the break himself. “Fine, stay like that and don’t eat.” The door slammed shut. 

He kept his ear to the door, but there was no noise, and only a few minutes had passed until the nurse came to his room, and he had to scurry back to his desk. Luckily, she didn’t seem to notice his behavior. Unluckily, she was back with her usual smile, although it faltered a bit at the sight of Herbert’s unfinished food. “Oh, you didn’t clean your plate. Well, the sooner you go to bed, the sooner it’s breakfast time!” she said with a laugh while putting the tray on her cart. She closed the door with a wave good-bye. 

Herbert stood still in the center of his room. He wondered if he should pay a visit to the patient on the other side of the door. He didn’t think much of it, just paced towards the door and pulled the handle. It opened. Daniel must have picked the lock. 

The other room was completely dark except for the light of a moonbeam coming through the window. It didn’t cover the bed that Daniel was laying on though, and Herbert could only see a human-shaped mass lying flat. He crept over to the other side of the room and moved his hand across the wall to find the light switch. When he flicked it on he saw the resident of the room strapped down on his bed with a ball gag in his mouth. 

Herbert cocked his head to the side, creeping his way towards the other patient. He looked him over as he brought himself to stand next to the man’s head. Daniel was tall, had to be around half a foot taller than Herbert, and he was clearly in good shape. His hair was cut almost like a mullet, and it was obvious it hadn’t been taken care of in a while, it stuck out in every direction and there were strands tangled up into knots.

He brought his gaze to Daniel’s eyes, which were almond brown and wide as he looked Herbet over as well. 

Herbert brought his hand up to one of the straps that held the patient down. It was attached to the bed and going across his chest. He jiggled at the strap, and as he started to squeeze at his forearms, Daniel gave as much of a growl as he could through the gag. Herbert snapped his hand back to his side and sighed. He was elated to finally have something he could observe and study, but it was never easy to do those things if the subject was disagreeable. 

“I’ve been listening to you,” Herbert said. “And I’m certain you came into my room that night.” 

Daniel didn’t respond, not even with a nod. He stayed still and kept his eyes trained on Herbert. 

“I could remove your gag,” Herbert said, thinking that maybe he would talk then. He was going to lift Daniel’s head so he could try and take it off, but the patient growled and started jerking his body around. 

Herbert huffed with frustration. “Fine, stay like that.” 

He really got an incredibly unlucky patient to share a wall with. 

“What’s your condition?” Herbert asked. “I heard you barking before.” 

Daniel narrowed his eyes, and a low growl emitted from his throat. Herbert crossed his arms over his chest. He didn’t know how to continue. Daniel was proving tough to work with, and he didn’t want to cause a struggle in case it caught the attention of the orderlies. 

He was also getting tired, unfortunately. 

Herbert went to flick off the light and silently returned to his room, closing the door behind him. 

His interaction with Daniel was disappointing, but he wasn’t going to let it bring him down. Hopefully, he would be released by the end of the week anyway. 

He put his glasses on his desk and crawled into the bed. He had been drifting off and, just before he fell into sleep, he heard a quiet whine from the other room. Herbert smacked the wall, hoping it would be signal enough for Daniel to shut up.

\-----

_Herbert was sitting in his room at the hospital. It was decorated with the furniture from Gruber’s office. He was alone. The door to the other room started to open._

Herbert was shaken awake, and when his eyes adjusted to the dark he saw Daniel's face only an inch apart from his own. Herbert let out a yell of surprise and pushed himself up on his elbows, trying to get as far as he could away from the patient, but he was crouched over him on all fours which effectively trapped Herbert under him. Daniel put Herbert’s glasses on for him and gave him a smile. 

“How did you-” 

“I get very strong when the moon is full,” Daniel cut Herbert off. 

Herbert pushed himself further up so their faces were level with each other instead of Daniel looking down at him. 

“You’re talking,” he said, trying to hide the surprise out of his voice. 

“Yep,” Daniel said cheerfully.

“Why now?” 

“I was worried when you came in earlier. Sometimes the people here beat me while I'm tied down,” he responded. “But you didn't, and I can sense something about you. Werewolf intuition, I guess. That's why I came into your room that night. Sorry if I scared you by the way." 

“Sense something? Werewolf intuition?” Herbert tried to pick up everything Dan put down, but he didn’t think he had ever been this mind boggled before. Did this man think he was a _werewolf_? Was _that_ what was wrong with him? 

“Yeah. I can smell it on you,” Daniel leaned in a bit to give a sniff. “Heightened senses come with my ‘condition’.” 

“Do they?” his hands itched to start taking notes as Dan nodded his head. He wondered if he had some rare affliction that was similar to fantasy werewolf powers, or if he was simply deluded and it was all a self-induced placebo. “And how do I smell exactly?” 

Daniel abruptly put his head in Herbert’s chest and smelled. “Like chemicals and iron and-” he breathed in deep, dragging his nose up from Herbert’s chest all the way to his ears. He could feel Daniel’s warm breath on his neck as he spoke, “-like outside during a blizzard.” 

Daniel didn’t pull away, so Herbert scooted himself back farther, his back hitting the wall in the process, trying to get away from the fuzzy feeling the close contact was giving him. He prided himself on not giving in to the carnal desires for relationships and sex, he didn’t plan on changing that now. Especially not for some mental patient that broke into his room to plant himself on top of him. Even if he couldn’t help but notice that he was quite attractive. 

Daniel didn’t seem to get the hint anyway, and he crawled forward so space between the two was still non-existent. “And that makes me different?” Herbert asked, hoping his voice wasn’t giving anything away. He was supposed to be in control. 

Daniel sat up on his knees, still looking at and looming over the scientist, but at least he wasn’t so close. _Why did Herbert want him to be?_ “Different from anyone else I’ve met,” Daniel chuckled. “I’ve never smelled those chemicals before, and you worked with cadavers, I can tell. I used to, too.” Daniel suddenly gripped the back of Herbert’s head and put it against his chest. “Can you smell it on me?” 

He wasn’t holding his head too tight, Herbert could push away, but he didn’t. He instead let himself breathe in Daniel, and actually tried to take in his scent. 

“What do you smell?” Daniel asked. He pulled Herbert away but kept his hand where it was and started to run his fingers through the hair on the back of his head. 

“The bedsheets,” Herbert answered. He liked the way Daniel was touching his hair as if he was trying to feel every individual strand. 

Daniel looked a little sad at his answer and took his hand away from Herbert’s head. “Yeah, I bet this place has rubbed off on me. I’ve been here for around two months now.” There was a pause, Herbert not knowing how to respond. The idea of being trapped in this place seemed like one of the worse versions of Hell, his own personal one at that. “What’s your name?” Daniel asked. 

“Herbert. Herbert West. And you’re Daniel?” 

“Dan,” he put his hand out for a shake, but Herbert didn’t take it, so Dan put it back at his side with an annoyed huff. “I should get back to my room. Can you help me with something, though?” 

“What?” 

Dan got off the top of him and stood up. He pulled his ball gag out from the back pocket on his pants. “Strap me back in?” he asked with a cheeky smile. 

“Too tight?” Herbert asked as he finished doing the straps. He didn’t want to make Dan uncomfortable, not now that he got to know him a little bit and he wasn’t some faceless creature that lived on the other side of the wall. 

“It’s fine thanks,” Dan said. “I normally do this myself, but it’s a little tricky. It’s nice to have some help.”

“It’s no problem,” Herbert replied. He put the gag back in Dan’s mouth. “Well,” Herbert said awkwardly. “Goodnight, Dan.” 

The werewolf gave a nod as Herbert retreated back to his own room, quietly shutting the door behind him with a soft click. He laid under the covers, the bed smell reminding him of Dan, and he wanted to go back to the other room and ask a thousand more questions.

\-----

Herbert had been lying on his back, watching his room get gradually brighter as the sun rose, when his nurse entered. “Wanna go for a swim today? Play some volleyball?” she asked, hands on her hips.

“No, thanks,” Herbert answered dryly. He was never fond of sports. 

“It’s good to get out of your room,” she continued to try and convince him. “Dr. McMichaels gave us an all-clear to let you go to the gym and pool since you’re non-violent.” 

“I’m quite okay,” he wished she would let him be already. 

She gave Herbert a fake pouty face. “Okay, well, you’re always allowed to change your mind.” 

As soon as she left, Dan walked into his room, swinging the door open and letting it slam into the wall. Herbert jumped and Dan gave him an apologetic smile. “You get to go to the gym? Lucky,” he said while sitting at the end of Herbert’s bed. 

“You could too if you didn’t attack the nurse and orderlies,” Herbert stated matter-of-factly. He didn’t consider himself lucky for having the choice, given that he was never going to act on it. 

“True,” Dan nodded. “But they hit me just as much. Besides, I’m leaving anyway.” 

“They’re letting you out?” Herbert asked. Did patients have set release dates? He wondered if he could ask the nurse when he should be getting out.

Dan shook his head. “I’m gonna escape,” he spoke in a low whisper, not for the sake of keeping quiet in case of an eavesdropper, but rather for dramatic effect. 

“How exactly will you do that?” 

“I’m a werewolf,” Dan said this as though that should be answer enough. There was an unhinged look in his eyes, and Herbert felt some kind of twisted attraction towards it, even if he thought that what Dan was saying was stupid and illogical. 

“And exactly what circumstances landed you into this position?” Herbert asked. 

“I know you don’t believe me,” Dan looked away, crossing his arms across his chest. “Nobody does.” 

“Of course not,” Herbert responded flatly. “Werewolves are fictitious.” 

“Yeah, that’s what I thought too until it happened to me.” 

“Until what happened?” Herbert asked. “You transformed under a full moon?” 

He had asked more in jest than as a serious inquiry, yet Dan seemed to take it as the latter as his gaze snapped back up towards Herbert. “I thought that’s how it worked. Get bit and turn under a full moon, but that’s not what happened. I was in medical school,” he started, taking a seat next to Herbert on the bed. Herbert realized this was going to be a whole story, which would probably be able to be summarized with ‘I got bit by a homeless man’, but he only rolled his eyes internally and stayed attentive for the sake of Dan as well as his own morbid curiosity. “One of my professors, Dr. Hill, asked me to stay after class.” Herbert was shocked to hear about Dr. Hill. He was that halfwit moron who stole Gruber’s work and passed it off as his own in America. “I remember going up to speak to him, but then it’s all blank. Next thing I know I’m waking up naked in the woods.”

That was certainly not the story Herbert was prepared to hear. 

“I just had this gut feeling that I was a werewolf. I tried explaining it to my girlfriend when I got home,” Herbert’s chest squeezed at the mention of a girlfriend. “Her name was Meg. She was great, really sweet, and funny.” Dan started to get teary-eyed, and Herbert wished he would move forward in his story, starting to feel resentment for a woman he didn’t even know. “She started crying and told me I attacked Dr. Hill. I guess her father reported me to the police because they came in to arrest me a little after she left. I tried explaining to them that I’m a werewolf, that there’s no other explanation, but nobody would listen, so I got sent here.” Herbert wanted to laugh. It was funny to think of a grown man like Dan so doubtlessly believing that he was a creature of fantasy, so much so to the point that he couldn’t think of any other more sane reasons why he would have a memory lapse or suddenly lash out. 

But Dan was clearly holding in tears, and Herbert felt his heart tug at the sight, so he just rubbed Dan’s shoulder and hoped it was comforting. “I don’t know how I was turned. All I know is that I’m a werewolf,” he turned his head away again and looked down at the floor. 

Herbert scooted himself closer until their legs touched. There was a theory stitching itself together in his mind, but it would require Hill to have a modicum of intelligence and he wasn’t sure a plagiarist was capable of that. 

Dan turned his head to look at Herbert, and he sucked in a breath as he realized how little space there was between the two. Dan seemed suddenly aware of it too, his eyes flicking down to Herbert’s lips. 

He shot up and took a few steps back. "Sorry for unloading all that." 

"It's alright," Herbert responded, trying to recover from the sudden shift in mood. 

Dan nodded and took Herbert's chair from his desk, sitting there instead of returning to the bed. "Why are you here?" 

Herbert froze, wondering how much he could say without going into detail. He must have spent too long thinking because Dan gave him a small smile and told him, "It's okay. You don't have to tell me." 

Herbert looked at him, wordlessly trying to tell him that he didn't want to. Dan understood and started telling a story about an old roommate he had. Herbert listened, soaking in the details of Dan's past.

\-----

“Now, Herbert, I wanted to use this appointment to discuss your delusion.”

“Delusion?” Herbert asked. He was not deluded, not even close. 

“Your belief that you can bring the dead back to life.”

“That’s not a delusion, it’s science.” He had poured months of research into his and Dr. Gruber’s serum, and now it was being called a delusion, a figment of his imagination. If only Gruber was still alive. 

“Why do you want to be able to bring the dead back so badly? Have you lost someone?" 

Herbert supposed she was suspecting he had suffered a tragic loss, and his mind had created a way to bring the lifeless back as a coping mechanism. Well, too bad for her. He hadn’t lost anyone he cared about aside from Gruber. His parents died in a house fire, but that was so long ago and he was never close with them, to begin with. Herbert never really had friends either. Dr. Gruber was the first person that really cared about him, the only person to accept him and listen to him, and this couldn’t be a delusion due to his death since he was working on the re-agent long before Gruber’s unfortunate demise.

Herbert realized she had asked a question he was supposed to answer. “To save people,” he said. It was true, even if Herbert’s main motivation had been to gain knowledge and learn more about the secrets of life itself. Gruber had told him that they were going to help so many people, and he always said that that was the biggest reason to do anything. He had also advised Herbert that when they go public with the serum to tell people he was working on it to save lives, as that would apparently resonate more with others.

“Save people like Dr. Gruber?” Dr. McMichaels asked teasingly with a glint in her eye like she caught Herbert red-handed in the inner workings of his fantasy. 

He clutched at the arms of his chair. It was like Gruber’s death was a play piece in some sick game Herbert was forced to play, and he had to know exactly how to use it to win. “Of course,” he knew he should be careful with his words so she couldn’t twist them, but he couldn’t get anything more out. All he could see was Gruber’s eyes popping out of his skull, blood dripping down his hands and face. 

The therapist nodded. “Are you ready to answer who Dr. Gruber was to you?” she asked condescendingly. 

Herbert felt like if he opened his mouth he would only scream like he had when Gruber died again. 

Dr. McMichaels waited about twenty seconds in an awkward silence before giving up on an answer. She tried to continue the session, but Herbert remained silent throughout, and then he was towed back to his room by his nurse. 

“Remember to write your feelings down, Herbert,” his nurse said, standing in the doorway as Herbert made his way over to his bed. 

“I can assure you I will not,” Herbert replied, finally finding his voice after the horrible session with the doctor. 

“If you have trouble talking about Dr. Gruber, it can be easier to write it down.” Her voice went soft and she gave a small smile to Herbert that he guessed was supposed to be comforting. She left the room with a wink as if she thought her advice was record-breaking and had caused his emotional shell to burst. He scoffed. 

No more than five seconds later did Dan appear. 

“You worked with Dr. Gruber?” he asked. 

Herbert was going to go ballistic. He was sick of everyone talking and asking about Gruber when they had no right to. “Yes, he was my mentor,” he pushed through a clenched jaw. 

Dan grew wide-eyed. “What was that like? He’s pretty famous.”

“Probably the opposite of what it is was like working under that insipid dunce you called a professor!” 

“Do you mean Dr. Hill?” Dan gave a puzzled look, unbothered by Herbert's annoyance. “He’s a very well-respected teacher.”

“Being well respected does not equate intelligence.” Hill couldn’t even bother trying to sound original in his studies, only slightly changing Gruber’s, and even then he was so stupid that he chose to copy his earlier research instead of his more recent, accurate studies.

“But I’ve read some of his-” 

“You read plagiarized copies of Gruber’s work.” 

“Oh,” Dan said with a frown, his eyebrows drawing together. “So none of those were his?” 

“There were some that were original,” Herbert replied. “Of course they were terribly written and idiotic. Although. . .”

“What?” Dan tilted his head. 

“Did Hill do anything unusual before your memory lapsed?” he asked. 

“No,” Dan scratched at the back of his neck. “Why? Do you think he did this to me?” 

“It’s a possibility,” Herbert answered. Most of Hill’s own research was on the brain and how it could be manipulated, it was entirely plausible that he had figured out a way to make Dan go insane, even if making someone think they’re a werewolf was a ridiculous thought to entertain. 

Herbert was going to explain his thinking, but Dan had said, “Like he. . . bit me?” and Herbert found his mouth going agape, and the words unable to leave. It occurred to him that Dan might not believe his theories. His own confidence in being a werewolf was so high that he would probably brush them off. Herbert also found his mind becoming distracted because that look was back in Dan’s eyes, and his heart was picking up pace at the sight of it. 

“Did he have any grudges against you?” Herbert held off a little bit on his theory. 

“No, I don’t see why he would,” Dan said. “I don’t think he did this to me.” 

“He’s a plagiarist, Dan, who knows what he’s capable of doing.” 

Dan laughed despite Herbert’s seriousness. “I’ve always been a wolf,” he said after a slight pause. “I just turned at the wrong moment,” he added a little quieter. 

Herbert narrowed his eyes. “I thought you needed a full moon.” Wasn’t that a part of the lore? 

“Well, I don’t know,” Dan became indignant. “Clearly not.” 

“Listen, I have a theory about how-”

“No! No theories! I know what I am, even if I don’t know exactly how.” 

“But it’s a logical explanation-” 

“STOP!” Dan growled, his eyes wild and alight with fury. “I know what you’re going to say, so don’t! You’ll sound just like them!” 

“Them?” Herbert asked, his last bit of patience being shredded away even as his body reacted positively to the sudden anger. 

“The doctors and the nurses here!” he waved his arms, gesturing around to imply the entirety of the staff at the hospital. “They all say I’m crazy! I thought you were different!” 

It was Herbert’s turn to blow up, his hands balled into fists, and he maintained furious eye contact. “I am different! _I’m a scientist_! Unlike them, I’m not trying to cure you! I’m trying to understand you! Part of that is figuring out how you got this way, so excuse me if I come up with rational explanations, Dan!” 

The anger left just as quick as it appeared and Dan simmered down, his shoulders and posture relaxing. Herbert liked this look in his eyes, the soft vulnerability, just as much as the anger and lunacy. “You know, you’re the first person to accept me this way. Even if you don’t believe me.” 

Herbert thought about that. It was true that he didn’t need Dan to change. He thought he was a nut, sure, but there was an endearing aspect to him that he liked.

The reverse was also true. No one but Dr. Gruber had ever bothered to have actual conversations with Herbert before, and now there was Dan, who listened to every word intently with genuine curiosity. “I could say the same for you,” he said. 

Dan gave him a small smile and sat down on the bed. "I'll allow one theory."

\-----

Herbert tossed and turned in his bed. His nightmare consisted of a bloody, enraged Dan trying to tear his eyes out of his skull, all while Herbert couldn’t move and was forced to watch with horror. Dan’s fingernails grew longer and longer, as did the hair on his body, until eventually his claws stabbed through his skull with a sharp crack and Herbert jolted awake. The screams and snarls from his dream still echoed in his head, and he curled his knees up to his chest. Lightning flashed with the sound of thunder, and Herbert let out a small whimper. He hadn’t believed in ghosts since he was ten, but he couldn’t help to feel haunted in moments like these.

 _Head. Neck. Ears. Eyes. Blood._

His trick wasn’t going to work tonight, and he needed to check on Dan just to make himself feel a little better. Herbert’s eyes flicked around his room with paranoia as he got up and tiptoed his way to Dan’s room, slowly opening the door with a loud creak. He peeked his head in and his nerves cooled down as he saw Dan laying down on his bed. He couldn’t make out much more than his shape, as he hadn’t put on his glasses, and the room was soaked in darkness. He was grateful for it, thinking that if he could see Dan’s face it would only remind him more of his nightmare. 

“Herbert, are you okay?” Dan got up, not having been strapped down earlier, to meet him as he crept his way into the room and led him to bed. 

He sat next to him once he guided him down and held his hand. “I’m fine,” it was a little true. He already felt better now that he was next to Dan. “I just had a nightmare.” 

“Those suck,” Dan said. Herbert smiled and squeezed his hand. “What happened in it?” 

Herbert scooted closer to Dan and let go, opting to fidget with the collar on Dan’s shirt and letting his fingers graze his skin, reminding himself that Dan was here and okay, certainly not turning into a beast while ripping out his eyes. “You were hurting yourself,” he didn’t know if he could get into exact detail, the images all too fresh in his mind. 

Dan draped an arm over Herbert’s shoulders, and let the scientist lay his head on his chest. He felt his eyelids starting to droop, but he had to snap them back open when monstrous visions filled the back of them. “Oh. Well, you don’t have to worry about that, Herbert,” Dan gave him a reassuring rub on his back. 

“I know,” Herbert said, giving a nod. He debated telling Dan about his nightmare and Dr. Gruber with it. He felt it would be too hard to speak of, but Dan had given him so much trust, and maybe it really would be good for him to talk about it as long as it wasn’t to someone like Dr. McMichaels. Maybe all the spilled blood would stop burdening him so much if he shared it with another, and Dan was the only person he knew who really seemed to care. “You were doing what my mentor had done just before he died,” he started with a hope that Dan would drive the rest of the conversation. 

“I’m sorry,” Dan said softly. “How did he die?” 

“He had a heart attack,” Herbert said, gripping harder onto Dan’s shirt in an effort to stop his hands from shaking. “I found him in the morning at his office.”

“Oh, Herb,” Dan said with a sympathetic voice. He squeezed Herbert's shoulder. 

He held in the tears even though he knew he couldn’t forever. “He was like a father to me,” the words were coming out of Herbert without control now. He couldn’t help but spill all the emotions he had been bottling up since Gruber’s death. “We were working on a serum together,” his throat closed up while trying to let out grieving sobs. “To bring the dead back to life.”

“Oh, Herbert, did you. . .?” there was disbelief in Dan’s voice, whether it be from the idea of giving people their life back or because he tested it on a human. 

“I didn’t want him to be gone,” the tears finally fell from his face. “He started kicking and screaming, and the police broke in and ripped me away from his body. I tried to explain, I only wanted to help, but nobody would listen to me.” He would wipe his tears if he wasn’t shaking so violently. 

“It’s okay, Herbert,” Dan wrapped his other arm around him for a hug. He leaned into Dan’s arms, and Herbert knew he would be horribly embarrassed by his overflooding emotions later, but for now, he could let Dan see this side of him. The side of him that was torn apart by his own grief and guilt. 

He sobbed into Dan, the tears leaving stains on the patient’s scrubs. Dan held on, letting Herbert know that he was there and it would be okay. "A part of me blames him," Herbert whispered as he would have choked on any tone louder. "I hate it. He always stopped me from testing on humans, but if he had just let me I could have perfected it. He could still be here."

Dan didn’t say anything, and he didn’t need to. His touches and small kisses to Herbert’s head were enough. 

After some more crying, Herbert’s body finally calmed down. He loosened his grip on Dan, and let his body completely relax into his. He closed his eyes and kept them closed, the back of his eyelids no longer plagued by his nightmares and memories. He sighed as Dan continued giving him little pecks at the top of his head. “Thank you,” he muttered, not entirely sure what he was specifically thanking him for. He supposed everything. 

_Liver. Lungs. Heart._

Herbert felt his budding love for Dan bloom as sleep overtook him.

\-----

Herbert was brought back to his room after another pointless session with Dr. McMichaels, and he wanted to slam the door behind him. He couldn’t though, was only able to seethe as his nurse said something ditzy and left with that shrill laugh she had.

He had been at the hospital for nearly two months now, and every appointment was the same. The doctor, if she could even be called that, had made no progress with Herbert. Of course that was a sign that he should be released, but unlike a competent doctor, she kept pushing for some breakthrough in his therapy. 

Herbert had begun pacing with frustration when Dan opened the door and poked his head in. He raised an eyebrow at the frenzied look in Herbert’s eyes. “What’s up?” he asked, closing the door behind him and leaning against the frame. 

“I can’t stand it here,” Herbert huffed. “The way they run things is childish, the nurses are inept, Dr. McMichaels is completely incompetent, and I don’t even belong here. Ha, I should be the one in charge, really. I’m far more qualified than anyone else in this wretched building. You’re the only good thing about this place, Dan.” 

“I am?” Dan asked with a tilt of his head and a smile growing. 

Herbert stopped his pacing to look at him. “Well, yes,” that was a fact along with everything else he said. 

Dan looked down at his feet, starting to scuff them along the floor. “I’m kinda surprised you like me at all.” 

“I. . . What's that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing,” Dan said with a wave of his hand. “You just don’t seem the type to like people very much.” 

“I like you,” Herbert didn’t really know how else to respond. He didn’t know what ‘type’ of person Dan was talking about, but he supposed he did fit the bill. He never felt the need for human connection. He fared well on his own, and he probably could for the rest of his life. Or, rather, he could have if he never met Dan. Why him of all people was a question he couldn’t answer. All he knew was that there was a pull with Dan, a thread connecting them that Herbert felt he could never cut no matter how hard he tried. 

He thought of that night he fell asleep in Dan’s arms. His chest ached, needing that closeness again. It looked like he would get it, as Dan was stepping closer, so much closer, their chests touching and hands becoming entwined. Herbert’s heart was racing, and he slid his fingers around Dan's wrist to feel his pulse. It was going at the same pace. “I like you, Dan,” Herbert said again, mostly out of nerves, as Dan brought his face closer to his. 

“I like you too,” Dan responded, his voice just above a whisper before he closed the space between them. 

Herbert could have sworn his heart was going to burst out of his chest, but that wouldn’t be such a big deal. Dan had already devoured his heart entirely.

\-----

The sun had gone down hours ago and there were no clouds in the sky, so the light of the moon and stars shone down into Herbert’s room, creating a dark grey atmosphere that made him feel like he was floating in a fog. The floating part came from the kisses and touches Dan gave Herbert while laying on top of him. He had put himself in between Herbert’s legs, and he shivered as Dan gave him soft pecks, his long hair brushing Herbert’s face as he planted kisses on his neck.

He gently grasped at Dan’s back, giving out little huffs of air with every kiss, content but wanting more. A few months ago he would have called his desires grime, but now they were simply needs.

Dan lightly bit at his neck and Herbert jerked out of surprise, causing Dan to plant a kiss on his cheek and lean back to look him in the eyes. “What if I bit you, huh?” he said teasingly. 

“You just did,” Herbert brought his lips to Dan’s. 

Dan sunk into the kiss, relaxing his body onto Herbert’s, before slowly pulling away and saying, “Don’t be a smartass,” with a wry smile. “I mean like, uh, a rougher bite,” he rubbed his thumb over the spot where he bit into his neck, which Herbert couldn’t see but he was sure hadn’t left a mark. 

The idea of it was enticing, Dan getting under his skin, but Herbert also knew he couldn’t have it on his neck. His nurse and the doctor would see, and he also wasn’t one to display his sexual life to the world. “Not where it’s visible,” Herbert said, bringing a hand to run through Dan’s hair. 

“Ohh,” Dan breathed out. “So, somewhere like here?” he lifted Herbert’s shirt up and started squeezing at the scientist’s hips. He let out a little gasp and nodded, which was permission enough for Dan to start kissing his body lower and lower, lifting Herbert’s shirt up higher and higher, until he got to the spot where he squeezed. Dan was sucking at his skin, trying to leave a hickey, but before he could actually bite Dan shot up and scooted backward. Herbert pulled his shirt back down and watched as Dan stared at the door and sniffed the air, before giving an apologetic glance at Herbert and darting back to his own room. 

“Damn bitch,” Herbert muttered as his nurse opened the door and switched on the light. He didn’t understand why she was here so late. 

“I have some good news, Herbert,” she said. 

“What is it?” he said indignantly. Her good news was probably something inane, like french toast would be served for breakfast tomorrow. 

“Dr. McMichaels informed me that you’ll be leaving tomorrow morning. You’ve been on good behavior, and nothing came back from Dr. Gruber’s autopsy to suggest foul play, so there’s no reason to keep you here.” 

Herbert felt relief wash over them. That _was_ good news. He was beginning to feel exhilarated. He had been trapped for two months, but now he could finally continue his work. 

“I bet you’re excited,” his nurse said after Herbert didn’t respond aloud. 

“Yes, I very much am,” Herbert gave her a sincere smile, his first one towards her since his arrival. 

“I’ll be back in the morning to walk you out,” she gave him a smile back and closed the door. 

As usual, Dan came in right after she left. He didn’t bounce in with his typical enthusiasm though, and Herbert realized that his departure meant leaving Dan behind. He immediately began to deflate. “I’m leaving,” Herbert said, his voice low and despondent. 

“I heard,” Dan was slouching and he had never seemed so defeated. Even if orderlies came in and abused him, or he went days without eating, he always seemed at the top of his game. It was like watching a sturdy tree start to droop. “Herbert?” 

“Yes, Dan?” 

“I could escape,” he whispered, walking closer and grabbing Herbert’s hands as the scientist remembered when Dan had told him he was planning on escaping. “We could be together. If you want to be with me.”

Herbert looked up into Dan’s eyes. They were so intensely sweet. Of course Herbert wanted to be with him. Dan had somehow reached into Herbert’s chest and put his heart into a death grip that he could never get out of, not that he would ever want to anyway. “I could use an assistant,” he said while putting his hand on Dan’s hip. He smiled at the taller man, who bent down for a kiss. Herbert hated the idea of Dan possibly getting caught, being treated even worse because of it, but he couldn’t bear the thought of losing him. 

The taller man pulled back a bit and softly said, “You can meet me in the woods after you get out. I’ll find you.” 

Herbert nodded, thinking of the forest that surrounded the asylum, bringing his lips back to Dan’s. 

He pulled back again soon, however. Dan instead kissed Herbert’s cheeks, and then rested his head atop of Herbert’s, holding him tightly against his chest. “I love you, Herbert,” he muttered. 

Herbert breathed in Dan’s smell, and then leaned away a bit, looking up to give Dan a smile before going in for another long kiss. The most comfortable Herbert West had ever been was right now, in the arms of the only person he ever loved, and now knowing for sure that that person loved him back. He had the urge to dissect Dan, to know everything about him and exactly how to make him happy. 

Herbert wondered how his organs would respond to his careful touches as he separated his lips from Dan’s, instead starting to kiss his cheeks, and then bringing his mouth down to suck at his neck. _How can he make his heart pick up the pace?_ Dan kept his head low, leaned himself in further as an invitation to continue, and started to give soft pecks at Herbert’s neck. 

Blood rushed through Herbert’s body, pooling in his dick and raising his body temperature. The taste of Dan’s skin was alluring, and, oh dear Selene, he wanted more. _How could he make his vocal cords make sweet, symphonic noises?_ Herbert brought himself down, kissing his collarbone and just under his chin, marking Dan with hickeys on the way, and tugged down on Dan’s shirt to reach his chest. Dan started rubbing and grabbing Herbert’s back with a grip that would almost certainly leave bruises later. His groans in Herbert’s ears were low and deep, subhuman. 

Herbert kissed further and further down, kissing his stomach as Dan lifted his shirt off, then brought himself to his navel, until he was on his knees. _How could he manipulate his cerebrum to think of him?_ The moonlight shone through the window, right onto Herbert as he pulled down on Dan’s pants and underwear, and let himself tend to the one organ he really had his mind on. He felt himself become fuller and fuller, swore he could feel his bones growing and shifting, his heart pumping blood faster and stronger, as he pleased every inch of Dan that he possibly could. Dan pulled on his hair, his low groans turning into howls that filled the unearthly room and ghostly hallways. 

Herbert didn’t stop, couldn’t even if he wanted to, until Dan gave one final cry of ecstasy and came into Herbert’s mouth. He didn’t get up, he stayed on his knees, resting his head against Dan’s thigh, and let the aftermath of it all wash over him. Dan’s legs were trembling slightly and his breathing was ragged. His grip on Herbert’s hair loosened, and he started running his hand through it more gently. Praise.

“Come on,” Dan said, helping Herbert up to his feet and bringing him over to the bed. He sat him down on the edge and pulled his knees apart so he could fit in between. Reward.

Herbert let out a moan as Dan pulled down his pants and began kissing his thighs. He looked up and then brought himself to Herbert’s stomach, where he finally bit him. Herbert closed his eyes with a gasp and when he opened them their faces were level, and Dan straightened his glasses. He then gave him a smile and kiss before going back down and finally bringing his mouth to Herbert’s dick. 

Noises left Herbert's mouth that he didn’t even know he was capable of making. He masturbated every now and then, but that was more so to get rid of inconvenient aches rather than for the sake of pleasure. Besides, it never came close to this. He was fast on himself, trying to get it out of the way so he could move onto what he needed to do, but this was slow and sensual and Dan was hitting all the right spots. 

It was as though he was being cut open, his blood and guts, all of him entirely, spilling out in front of Dan to examine and know. It was only fair, Herbert did the same to him, and he was fine with it. He was more than fine with it. Dan could slowly flay him alive and Herbert would welcome it. 

Herbert came and let out a scream. 

His body convulsed and he fell down onto his back. Dan held on for a moment, letting Herbert’s body calm down before crawling over on top on all fours and bringing him into a hug. There was still tingling in Herbert’s legs as Dan moved him up on the bed to lay down properly. He then plopped himself next to Herbert and opened his arms for him to scoot into. 

Herbert curled into Dan, feeling secure as the werewolf wrapped his arms around him. At this moment he truly understood Dan for the first time. He didn’t believe in souls, but he supposed that if they were real, his and Dan’s would be one and the same now. He clung to him and breathed him in. His scent wafted around Herbert, and he could finally sense what Dan had tried to get him to two months ago. The smell of the bed sheets was strong, as was the aroma of sex, but Dan also smelled like pine and autumn wind. There was a hint of cadavers and iron. The latter he swore he could even taste on his tongue. 

He sunk himself into Dan, and he could feel him taking his glasses off for him. 

He slept peacefully.

\-----

Herbert woke up in his bed alone, shaken awake by his nurse. He squinted his eyes against the morning sun glowing through his window and grabbed his glasses from the desk all the while his nurse waited, holding the clothes he had come to the hospital in. She handed them to Herbert with outstretched arms. “We washed them early this morning, so they’re fresh and clean for you,” she said.

“Thank you,” Herbert said as his nurse went to stand in the hallway so he could change in private. He sort of expected Dan to walk in to give him a final goodbye, but he never came. Herbert stared at the door conjoining their rooms. He always thought he would be alone, and he was fine with that, but now a life without Dan seemed too painful to go through. Herbert finished tying his tie, thoughts of Dan roughly tugging at it flashed through his head, and he smiled as he opened the door on the other side of the room, the one to the hallway, the one where his new future laid. 

He never expected to be grateful for this time spent here, but he always knew that leaving would be a joyful occasion. 

The buzzing swarmed his ears for the last time. The metal doors to the outside opened with a clang, and Herbert stepped out to breathe in the fresh air he hadn’t smelled in two months. He made his way down the steps, and when he got to the gate he turned to see his nurse waving goodbye. He didn’t wave back. He instead took in a breath of relief, and left through the gate, trying not to bolt into the woods. He wanted to start his future now, wanted to have his Dan and get a house, he wanted to restart his experiments. But he had to be patient. The smell of pine wafted into his nose as he got farther into the woods. He stopped once the trees blocked the view of the asylum entirely and then looked around for Dan. He was scared that perhaps he hadn’t made it out, or maybe he changed his mind, but he had to put all his faith in Dan, so that’s what he did. 

All of a sudden he heard somebody running, and he turned to see Dan coming at him at full speed. Herbert smiled and stayed in his place, letting the wolf catch his prey. 

When Dan made it to Herbert, he scooped him up and started kissing his cheeks and neck. “You’re cute in a suit,” Dan said in between kisses. 

“Get used to seeing it,” Herbert thought that wasn’t really a compliment since anything looked better than those damn scrubs, but it still warmed him up on the inside.

“Please don’t tell me that’s all you wear,” Dan laughed and put Herbert back down on the ground. 

“I have to remain professional, Danny.”

“Well, the second we get home I’m putting on a cozy sweater and watching a movie,” Dan said wistfully. 

“We have to find a home first,” Herbert hoped that the task wouldn’t prove too difficult. The sooner he had a place to work the better. 

“Home is wherever you are, darling,” Dan pulled him into a tight hug, holding Herbert’s face against his chest and running his hands through his black hair. It was reminiscent of that first night they had met, and Herbert closed his eyes, once again taking in the scent of Dan Cain. 

He felt like a lovesick teenager, experiencing all the new emotions and never wanting to take his hands and eyes off his crush. 

Dan turned Herbert away from his chest so they were standing side by side, and he slung his arm around his shoulders. Together they walked off into their unknown future. 

Although it wasn’t completely unknown. Herbert knew two things; he was going to perfect his re-agent and defeat death, and everything would be fine as long as Dan was by his side.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! 
> 
> other songs I considered making the theme: 
> 
> Violent Love - Oingo Boingo  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzrquZP4-0I
> 
> Blue Moon - The Marcels  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoi3TH59ZEs


End file.
